UNITED NATIONS Distr. General Assembly GENERAL A/45/1000 26 April 1991 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH Forty-fifth session Agenda item 23 QUESTION OF PALBSTINB pn the Exercise of the Inalienable Riuhts of the Palestinian Peonle addressed to the Secretary-General In my capacity as Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People I have the honour to inform you that I have received the enclosed comprehensive report from Bis Excellency Professor Guido de Marco, President of the General Assembly, on his visit to the Palestinian refugees in the occupied territories and in Jordan, which took place from 2 to 7 January 1991. At the Committee's invitation, the President had kindly agreed to brief the Committee at its 176th meeting, held on 22 February 1991, regarding his visit. In view of the importance of the President's report and its relevance to the work of the Committee, the Committee decided that the report should be widely disseminated as an official document of the United Nations (see annex). On behalf of the Committee I would therefore like to request that the report be issued as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 23. (Signed)Absa Claude DIALLO Chairman Committee on the 8xercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People 91-13277 2315h (El / . A/45/1000 Bnglish Page 2 ANNEX Rencrt of the President of the General Assemblv On his visit to the Palestinian refuuees in the occuoied territories and in Jordan from 2 to 7 January 1991 CONTENTS Parauraohs- Exs FORBWORU . ..C..............................."................. 3 I. IRTRODUCTION ......................................... 1 -7 4 IX. THE VISIT: Factual information and meetings ......... 8 - 40 5 III. PLIGHT OF THE RF.FUGBES ............................... 41 - 62 9 A. In the occupied Palestinian territories .......... 43 - 55 10 B. In Jordan ........................................ 56 - 62 13 IV. PERCEPTION OF PALESTINIANS ........................... 63 - 73 14 V. ROLE OF TBB UNITED NATIONS RELIEF ARD WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTIRB REFGGEBS IN TEB NEAR EAST .................. 74 - 85 17 VI. CONCLUSIOLSS .......................................... a6 -.P8 19 APPENDICES 1. Statement of Palestinian women . ..a.........*...*.......** 21 2. Profiles: A. Jalazone Camp ................................................ 30 8. Dheisheh Camp ................................................ 31 3. List of people met ............................................... -13 2 4. Press aspects of ths visit ....................................... 36 5. Members of mission ............................................... 40 / . A/45/1000 English Page 3 FOREWORD 1. The visit to the Palestinian refugees in the occupied Palestinian territories and in Jordan was inspired by the visit which Mr. Giacomelli, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) paid to me at my Office on the 38th floor. 2. Mr. Giacomelli briefed me on the current activities of UNRWA. As we discussed the matter in greater depth, I realized that in order to fully understand the human dimension of the plight of the Palestinian refugees it would be best for me to visit the region. It was not a visit in antagonism to any of the States or political forces in the region: it was intended, in the light of an impending confrontation, to seek internationai opinion on an issue tilat has been on the agenda of the United Nations for decades, and which has defied a solution. 3. The present report is a reflection of what was seen, heard and, in some circumstances, suffered hy the delegation which I had the privilege to lead. / . * A/45/ 1000 English Page 4 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The report of the Special Political Committee (A/45/822), which related tJ agenda item 74, entitled “United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East”, was considered by the General Assembly on Tuesday, 11 December 1990. The Special Political Committee considered this item in four meetiqs and heard 31 statements in the general debate. Eleven draft resolutions were adopted by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Committee. 2. The Commissioner-General of UNRWA introduced this item to the Committee. He provided information on recent events in UNRWA’s area of operations and also drew the attention of the Committee to some of the most pressing issues of the Agency caused by procedural and legalistic obstacles and constraints with which the Agency had to contend in the occupied Pslastinian territories. The Committee was also apprised of UNRWA’s financial difficulties and an appeal was made to major donors for immediate and more generous assistance. During the general debate, speakers praised the activities of UNRWA, which were designed to meet the basic needs of the Palestinian refugees, and pledged continued support for the Agency’s humanitarian mandate, 3. The speakers described and recognised the particularly serious situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, as a result of a three-year long Jnt.if@ah and harsh counter-measures on the part of the occupying authorities. Serious concern was voiced at the substantial increase in the number oE incidents which infringed upon UNRWA’S rights, privileges and immunities and reduced its capacity to discharge its functions effectively. 4. The General Assembly adopted the 11 draft resolutions recommended by the Committee (resolutions 43173 A to K). Two of the draft resolutions were adopted without a vote and the rest by recorded votes. 5. I informed the Stxretary-General of my intention to visit the refugee camps and, at his suggestion, I consulted with senior United Nations officials who briefed me on previous visits to the region and discussed with me !.n some detail my visit, including political and logistical aspects. 6. Subsequently, I also met with the Permanent Representatives of Israel and Jordan to the United Nations, as well as the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations, all of whom welcomed my proposed visit and pledged their cooperation and support. 7. My programme and itinerary were finalized with the cooperation of UNRWA’s staff at. its headquarters in Vienna and in the field - namely in the occupied Palestinian territories and ,Jordan. / . A/45/1000 English Page 5 II. THE VISIT 8. Upon my arrival in Tel Aviv on the evening of 2 January, I was met at the airport by Mr. Johanan Bein, Directct of the Department of International Organisations at the Foreign Ministry of Israel, and other officials. Mr. Giorgio Giacomelli, Commissioner-General of IJNRWA, also came to meet me. 9. Since there were about a dozen journalists present, I took the opportunity to state for the record the purpose of my trip, making clear that I had come in my capacity as President of the General Assembly to see for myself the human dimension of the plight of the Palestine refugees, and that therefore my visit was in no way connected with the mandate of the Secretary-General under Security Council resolutions concerning the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. I also stressed that in my view there should be no linkage between the s!tuatiou in the occupied Palestinian territories and the crisis in the Gulf. 10. That evening, Mr. Giacomell; and some UNRWA staff briefed me fully on the situation in Gaxa and the West Bank. UNRWA planned the itinerary for my visit, and the Commissioner-General accompanied me throughout my six-day tour in the region, for which I am extremely grateful. 11. On the first full day of my visit, 1 met for approximately 90 minutes with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Israel, Mr. David Levy, and other lsraeli off icidl6. The Foreign Minister spoke at length about the oituation in the region and in the occupied Palestinian territories. For my part, I outlined well-known General Assembly positions on the need for a Palestinian homeland and the desirability of convening an international conference on the Middle Eabt as the best means to achieve that end, 12. Following my meeting with the Foreign Minister, our party set off for the Gaza Strip. The area had been declared a closed military zone by the Israeli Governmeut, as a seci1rit.y precaution. No one, including the press, was allowed to enter or leave during our stay, although journalists based in the territory were free to cover our movements. 13. Our first stop was at Jabalia Refugee Camp, where, among other services, UNRWA provides emergency food rations to hardship cases. ACter a brief stop at the 1JNRWA Women’s Activity Centre, where refugee wvmen alee taught income-genecating skills, we wpre scheduled to witness i\ frr~,d distribution exert ise. However, the food distribution centre, which is adjacent to the entrance t.o an Israeli military compound, was the scene OL a stone-thruwing incident involving hundreds of Palestinian youths targeting the Israeli soldiers inside the compound. So that our presence might not aggravate an already tense situation, we withdrew immediately from Jabalia. / . A/45/ 1000 English Page 6 14. Making use of the time gained, we made an unscheduled stop at the Rimol Health Centre, which provides both preventive and curative care to Gaze residents. 15. We then proceeded to Beach Camp, on the coast, where I was able to walk through the streets and talk with reeident.s. At one point, I was shown into a typical refugee shelter and introduced to the family that lived there. Tho standard UNRWA structure, designed as temporary, had been reinforced and expanded over the years, as the period of residence was prolonged beyond what anyone had imagined. 16. At the UN.;WA field off ice for Gaza, I was briefed by Director Klaus Worm and his staff who described a deteriorating situation. Repeated strikes and curfews had cc\t deeply into the income brought into the turritory: the Gulf crisis only compounded that problem. The same situation had reduced school days 42 per cent in the last year.